


Keep That Drive in Our Heart

by LunarWingLatias



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Trans Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Captain America: The First Avenger, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Humor, Multi, No Smut, Not Canon Compliant After The Avengers (2012), Science Bros, Team Dynamics, The Avengers Are Good Bros, Tony Stark Has A Heart, World War II, some strong language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-08-20 23:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16564898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunarWingLatias/pseuds/LunarWingLatias
Summary: After The Battle of New York, Steve Rogers searches for three seemingly missing members of the Howling Commandos. However, no matter how hard he searches, he can not seem to find any information regarding The Spine, Rabbit, and The Jon.[An AU in which the three members of Steam Powered Giraffe fought alongside Steve and Bucky in World War II. Other than this change, other events for both fandoms are canon up until the first Avengers movie (Mid-2012).]





	1. Prologue: Ever Since The First Time I Opened My Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> The title for this story is a lyric from the SPG song, "That'll Be The Way Home" and the title for the prologue is from the SPG song "Automatonic Electronic Harmonics".
> 
> If you do not know anything about SPG, you can find information on the lore as well as their comics on the Steam Powered Giraffe Website: https://steampoweredgiraffe.com  
> That'll Be The Way Home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqzQWrAkgms  
> Automationic Electronic Harmonics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQWY-JOhF2I
> 
> (This fic will have a main plot made up of smaller subplots. The fic will also jump back and forth between the events of the war and current events.)
> 
> (The tags will be updated as the story is written. I haven't decided if and which romance pairing yet. If they are in the tags they may or may not be a central focus.)
> 
> (Also for the sake of continuity in the timeline, Rabbit will be male for at least the first year and a half of the story. Don't worry, she will be female later in the fic. I am sticking to the original timeline in points like this and Peter Walter IV doesn't discover this bit of information until the beginning of 2014.)

It had been two months since the Chitauri invasion that the world was now dubbing as the “Battle of New York” and about two years since Steve Rogers had awoken in the future. From the very moment he had awoken he had felt lost and lonely. Everyone he knew, all of his closest friends and acquaintances, were long gone. The first and only love of his life had grown old and had a beautiful life without him. He was a man out of time. Not because of the technological advancements or the new pop culture, but because of how the lives of everyone else had moved on without him. After New York, he felt that he had to get away. 

At the first chance he had, he packed a bag of his meager belongings and took to the road on a motorcycle, on old one gifted to him by S.H.I.E.L.D.  
From there he did something that he had dreamed about even before becoming Captain America. He took a trip around the country, visiting all of the most famous and historical sites and National Parks that the U.S. had to offer. During the war, he had always imagined taking a trip like this once the fighting was over and peace was restored. He would have taken Bucky along with him, maybe even Peggy and the other Howling Commandos. Just thinking about any of them left him with an empty feeling in his heart. 

One of the first things Steve did when he was finally taught how to use the internet he had looked up all of the names he had known from the war. Many men and women had died even after he had crashed the plane into the ice. He couldn’t find much on individuals of the Howling Commandos but he was happy to find that most of them had lived past the war and had long lives. There was also a plethora of information on him, Peggy, and Bucky. The stories of the battles they fought became immortalized in history books and had become living legends. Though, there were three people in particular that he could find absolutely no information on, the Walter automatons. There were no mentions of Rabbit, The Spine, or The Jon in any of the history books, comics, or Howling Commandos merchandise. Even the Captain America museum didn’t leave a single clue about what happened to them. 

...

During his time fighting as Captain America he had seen many strange things, but none of them were as strange as seeing three metal soldiers. Technology like them had been unheard of at the time and it seems that it still doesn’t exist anywhere else, except maybe Stark Tower. 

It had been a few days after Bucky and the other soldiers of his unit had been rescued when Steve had been walking around their camp. After his grand rescue, he had been told that he would be allowed his own unit to lead on missions. Bucky had already volunteered himself to join and Steve had created a list of other men he had seen fighting during their escape that he knew he could trust. This list included Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Jim Morita, James Falsworth, and Jacques Dernier. Everyone that he asked accepted immediately and he had sent the request in that morning. Just as he had been walking back to the tent where Bucky and the other rescued soldiers were resting, he heard someone crying and a pair of voices coming from the other side of the tent.

“I… I don’t want to do this anymore. I just want to go home.” A voice whimpered.

“There, there Jon. It will be alright.” A deep, baritone voice replied. “We are all still here and once we’re done will go right back to the manor with Pappy.”

A third voice mumbled something incoherent before making a sharp hissing sound. The deep voiced man spoke up again, a hint of irritation and guilt laced in it, 

“Sorry Rabbit... I’m doing the best I can but with these wires shredded the way they are…” He sighed. “I don’t know how much more I can do. They won’t give us new ones unless you can’t function without it.”

Curiosity got the better of Steve and he peeked his head around the corner of the tent. He was absolutely astonished by what he saw. From a distance, they looked like three ordinary soldiers like all of the other ones around camp. But unlike other soldiers, these men had metal for skin and glowing eyes. One of them appeared to be made out of a silver colored metal and he was carefully moving his fingers in the neck cavity of a slightly shorter copper robot who somehow was able to pull of an annoyed look, despite not having normal skin. The copper robot in turn had an arm over the shoulders of a much shorter and thinner brass robot who had his hands over his face, curling up into the other robot’s side as if to try and disappear. 

The copper robot made a hissing sound again trying to reply back and the deep voiced silver robot pulled out a small frayed wire. Steve had seen similar ones earlier when a man was trying to fix one of their radios. Surely someone would give them something so simple. Steve had a new mission in mind.

He came back a few minutes later with a small handful of wires. No one had even questioned why he needed them. The three robots were luckily still sitting in the same area except now it seemed that the small brass robot had calmed down from earlier and was now just quietly staring off into space with glowing blue eyes staring down at the dusty ground, long curls of light brown hair hanging down the sides of his face. The silver robot had moved over to the brass robot’s other side, effectively sandwiching him between himself and the copper robot. He was humming a small, beautiful tune that sounded like some kind of lullaby. 

They didn’t notice when Steve approached so he cleared his throat. Before Steve could say anything, the three metal men stood straight up at attention. All of the emotions he had seen in the robots instantly went away and were replaced by the looks of soldiers. Up this close he realized that the silver robots eyes glowed bright green while the copper robot had one green and one blue eye. The silver robot was actually even taller than Steve and he noticed that the silver robot had short black hair under the army helmet.

“We apologize Captain Rogers, we are battle-ready and will accept our new assignments.” The silver robot said in a cold expressionless voice, so unlike the way he spoke to the others beside him.

Steve suddenly felt awkward in this situation. He pushed the feeling away though and held out the collection of wires he had gathered earlier to the silver robot. “Sorry, I don’t have an assignment for you. I just noticed that you might have needed this for your friend.”

The expressionless, stoich looks in their faces dropped instantly into confusion. They all looked at each other, as if trying to get a read on what each other was thinking. The silver robot looked back over to Steve and hesitantly took the spare wires from his hand, as if Steve would suddenly pull it away as some kind of joke. The silver robot observed the wires, eyes wide in disbelief. He looked up at Steve with a genuine smile. “Thank you so much Captain Rogers, these are exactly what we needed.”

“You’re welcome.” Steve replied with a shrug and a smile in return. “I heard that the higher ups wouldn’t give you supplies, if you ever need anything again just come find me.”

The three winced at that, seeming to realize that Steve must have overheard them talking. “I apologize Captain Rogers. W-we really didn’t mean to cause offense. We know that it is important to keep valuable supplies where they are n-needed most.” The silver robot stammered out.

This made Steve pause. These three robots, despite being made of metal were still so human. It was obvious to him within the first few minutes of seeing them that they had thoughts and feelings of their own. Something must be going on with the higher-ups if these three men were terrified of being caught standing up for themselves and having their own opinions. It reminded him of himself when he was on tour selling bonds and the generals refusing to allow him to fight, despite the fact that all of his past health issues were void.

“There’s no need to apologize.” Steve said quickly before the silver man started to panic. He thought it would be better to divert the topic. “It seems you three already know my name, but what should I call you three if you don’t mind me asking?”

The silver robot went to reply, but the brass robot seemed to perk up at the question. “Well my name is The Jon.” He stated happily, doing a complete turn around from his saddened behavior earlier. He than gestured over to the silver robot. “That there is my older brother The Spine, and this,” he threw an arm around the silent copper robot. “is my oldest brother Rabbit.” Rabbit and The Spine both smiled at The Jon’s sudden cheerfulness and they looked at Steve as if he had just given them all the gold in the world. Steve found himself smiling along too.

After the initial introductions, it was as if a switch had been flipped, the three robots seemed a lot more relaxed around Steve and The Jon suddenly had a huge burst of energy. He started to talk to Steve about anything and everything imaginable while The Spine took the opportunity to fix Rabbit’s voice box. “And then, after Rabbit and I had our ice cream parade The Spine joined us for our horse adventure... Did you also know that there is a place called Biscuit Town?... We went to Kazooland once too, it was beautiful…” The Jon went on and on and his stories seemed to grow more and more unrealistic and bizarre, making them that much more enjoyable to listen to. Steve hadn’t even realized that an entire thirty minutes had passed since he walked over to them.

Under all of the talking, Steve suddenly heard The Spine mumble. “I’m going to have to apologize again to you Captain Rogers. You know... I thought that you would be safe from getting your ears yapped off, considering our usual chatterbox had been silenced for the moment. But… I guess it was not meant to be.”

Steve and The Jon chuckled as the remark caused Rabbit to swipe at The Spine’s shoulder in indignation. Rabbit let out another annoyed hissing sound before The Spine must have finally gotten the voice box fixed as a voice suddenly shouted. “H-hey! I w-w-would resent that remark, if it wasn't t-totally t-t-true.” At the sound of his voice returning, the copper robot smirked at his younger brother. “W-well, well, well… it looks like the ch-ch-chatterbox is back.”

The Spine heaved a heavy sigh, causing hot steam to poor out of the vents in his cheeks. “And here I was beginning to think a semblance of peace had been restored to the world.” The Spine’s genuine happiness for his brother couldn't be masked by the overdramatic melancholy in his voice.

The banter instantly reminded Steve of Bucky and their friendship. It was clear, at least to Steve, that these three brothers were genuinely good people. He thought back to how they acted when he had first approached, it sounded like they were awaiting for assignments, meaning that they were currently waiting on orders that were bound to have them fighting on separate fronts. Steve thought about fighting without Bucky and instantly knew that he wanted to do.

He turned to the three of them and asked how they would feel if they were to join his unit. They all seemed like they wanted to say yes, but something was holding them back. The joyfulness that Steve had been witnessing seemed to be retreating from them the lights in their eyes dimming slightly.

“You see… we are not actually soldiers…” The Spine murmured, diverting his eyes. “We were rented out by our father. Only the highest chain of command can give us orders, as we are under a contract of sorts.”

Steve internally winced. _Sounds like slavery to me_. “If I were to somehow convince them to, would you say yes?”

“Of course!” The Jon exclaimed. The other two simply nodded.

“Y-you would d-d-do that for us?” Rabbit asked. 

“I was told that I could have anyone I wanted as a part of my team and I think you three would be perfect men for it.” Steve stated firmly.  
The three robots were shocked by Steve’s commitment and genuinely touched that someone else viewed them as being people too. They had a feeling deep down that they could trust him.

They talked for a while longer before Steve said goodbye to his new mechanical friends, The Jon going straight for a hug while Rabbit and The Spine shook his hand. After he checked up on Bucky and the rest of the team, he would have a talk with the General.

After going back and forth with the General for what felt like hours, he finally convinced him that The Spine, Rabbit, and The Jon would become official members of what later became known as the Howling Commandos.

...

When Steve finally returned from his one month trip around the country, Tony Stark had reached out to him and offered him a room at the Stark Tower, now newly dubbed the Avengers Tower. He was a little hesitant at first to take him up on the offer, mainly because of their interactions on the quinjet. The truth was that Steve was ashamed of his behavior and judging Stark before really even knowing him. Stark had proven him completely wrong when he flew into that portal to save everyone and Steve knew that if any of his friends from the past had seen how he behaved, they would have been ashamed. Steve had read the tabloids on Stark and his first thoughts was that he must have been just like Howard.

Despite what everyone says about the friendship between Steve and Howard, no one knew that that bond had been broken way before Steve flew into the ocean. Before Steve had rescued Bucky and the other American soldiers, Steve and Howard had been on good terms. Despite that awkwardness he felt at first with him and Peggy, he thought Howard to be a good man who was just a little eccentric. It was only after he saw how Howard spoke about the other soldiers did he realize that Howard saw everyone as pawns to create a means to the end and that he simply saw Steve as another weapon he created, not a friend or brother in arms. 

Even though he knew it would be awkward at first, Steve took the olive branch handed to him and packed up his few meagre belongings from this S.H.I.E.L.D. apartment into the Tower. He had found that Bruce had already been living there for a few weeks, and shortly after Steve moved in. Natasha and Clint followed. Steve had a feeling that if and when Thor ever came back to Earth, Tony would also offer him a home there as well.  
At first they all kind of avoided each other. Stark and Bruce would work in the lab, Natasha and Clint would be sparing, and Steve was left alone to attempt to catch up on modern day living.

It was about two weeks into Steve’s stay was when he and Stark finally started to mend things between the two of them. Steve had been sitting out on the couch in the common room early one morning trying to figure out how use the internet on the new Stark Phone that had been given to him when Stark suddenly stumbled into the room clutching onto a cup of black coffee like his life depended on it. “Good Morning, Stark.” Steve said, surprised at seeing Stark anywhere else besides his lab.

All he received back in greeting was a low grumble as he plopped himself down on the armchair next to Steve and started typing away on a Stark Tablet. Steve had made a note to himself then that Stark was definitely not a morning person. Trying to ignore his urge to make a rude comment at his lack of greeting, he went back to looking at his phone. After a few more minutes he finally found the internet app and he decided to search again for the seemingly missing robots. Once again his search came up with absolutely nothing useful. He tried looking up scientists with the name of Walter and even looking up if there had ever been any robot bands and he couldn’t find a single clue or mention. Some government agency must have covered up the entire thing. Little did Steve know that Stark had been watching as he became more and more frustrated by his unsuccessful searching.

“What seems to be the problem Cap? Your starting to look like that phone had just insulted your family and proceeded to spit in your face.” Stark said into the quiet room.

The sudden voice caused Steve to jump and almost drop the phone. He looked over to Stark to see that he had his trademark smirk and an eyebrow raised in question. He didn’t really know if he wanted to talk about this with Stark, since they really didn’t trust each other man, but he realized that if anyone were to know about seemingly hidden government secrets or robotic A.I.s, it would be him.

“Have you ever heard the name Walter before when it comes to technology?” Steve asked.

Stark seems to contemplate the name for a while but he shakes his head. “It sounds vaguely familiar… Why? You don’t really seem like the type of person to be interested in that stuff?”

“I’m trying to find information on what happened to some of the Howling Commandos, but there is absolutely nothing on the internet or anywhere else on where they went.” Steve explained. “I even went to S.H.I.E.L.D. about it and they either claimed that they knew absolutely nothing about it or they skimmed over the question.”

Stark seemed to become progressively more interested as Steve spoke, even turning off the tablet he had been working on and setting it to the side. “Are you saying that there are people from your clique that aren’t mentioned? Do you know why?”

“It’s probably because they are robots.” Steve admitted, looking down at his hands. He waited for Stark to respond but was met with silence. He felt like he could just sink into the couch. Who would believe that robots with genuine thoughts and feeling would have existed in the 1940s? He probably sounded crazy. 

Curiosity won out however and he looked back up to see that Stark was back on his tablet typing away fast enough that his hands seem to blur. “What are you doing?” He asked as he stood up to look over Tony’s shoulder. There were various codes running across the screen that Steve had no hope of interpreting.

“I remember something that my old man mentioned a few years back,” He starts rambling as he keeps his eyes on the screen. “You see, the Vietnam War had just ended and he been going on a rant about how a company called Walter Robotics that had been supplying the U.S. government with weapons for decades had declared that they would no longer send their weapons into war...”

Steve could barely hold back his anger. _Had those three kind-hearted men been sent back into another war after everything they been through?_ He remember Rabbit telling him that their original purpose was to simply sing and perform. They had been forced into wars that they never wanted to be a part of. He could remember the nightmares they had while on missions and how they never got a chance to say goodbye to their father before he died because they were in a different country. Vietnam would make it a total of four wars that they had fought in. He really hoped what Howard said was true and that they wouldn’t have to fight anymore. _Were they even still alive? If they were they would be over 100 years old. What are the odds that all three came back in one piece?_

Stark was still speaking and his voice helped pull Steve back into reality. “... called the head of the company a coward for not helping their own country when they had the means to do so. I only really remember the conversation because Dad had been jealous of some of the supposed ‘technological advancements’ they made in the weapons industry. He never really elaborated on what the company actually did and since I was only around four or five years old at the time, I wasn’t really interested enough to ask.”

Stark stopped talking as a file that had been loading reached completion. “I had Jarvis download a copy of all of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files while we were in the labs on the helicarrier before the invasion. Right now I am having him pull up any files that include any mentioning of Walter Robotics,” He tapped on the file and a few documents and schematics were pulled onto the screen. He stood up and motioned for Steve to follow. 

Steve felt a growing anticipation as they took the elevator down to Stark’s private lab. He was honestly shocked at the fact that Tony would just drop what he had been doing to help him. They rarely spoke to each other except for when they were sent out on missions, and even then it would just be orders or information regarding the mission. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to judge Stark on the public news or the S.H.I.E.L.D. briefing they received before the invasion. He decided to break the silence between them. “Thank you for doing this for me Stark… not just for the files, but for everything else. I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions and making assumptions about you before.” 

Stark looked over towards Steve in surprise. He had not been expecting a apology from Steve, which made him feel even worse about his behavior on the helicarrier. Starks eyes quickly darted away as he looked everywhere else in the elevator except for where Steve was standing and he shuffled his feet. “I was an asshole too. My father always talked about how perfect his ‘greatest creation’ was to the point that I started to become... jealous.”

He finally looked at Steve and smiled, for once completely genuine. “Call me Tony by the way.”

“Only if you call me Steve,” Steve replied back with a smile of his own as the elevator came to a stop and opened up to the glass doors of the lab. Steve knew that there was a rift between Howard and Stark... Tony, but the thought of Howard constantly using Steve as a way to insult Tony’s accomplishments really brings to light why Tony acted the way he did when they first met. It would be a while before Steve and Tony could call themselves true friends, but hopefully this was a start to mending things between them.

The doors opened automatically for them as they walk up and Jarvis’ voice echoes above them. “Welcome back to the lab, sir. Would you like me to open those files for you on the holo-screens?”

“That would be great Jarvis, thanks.” Tony made his way to the center of the lab as green holograms of the documents from the files spread around the room. 

Steve took a moment as he walked over to join him. The lab looked so incredible. There were machines and robotic arms that were whirring away and assembling pieces of metal, computers zooming through various codes that Steve could make no sense of, and a line of Tony’s Iron Man suits lines the far wall. The first thing that came to mind was that it looked like something out of one of those Star Wars movies that Steve and been recommended to watch. Steve had never been in here before and it was amazing that Tony understood all of this stuff. 

Steve and Tony started searching through the documents hovering around them. Steve didn’t know whether or not to be disappointed. Some of the documents appeared to have huge missing chunks of text that had seemingly been whited out and there were no images of the robots themselves, only vague schematics of the weaponry attached to them like The Spine’s tesla coil and Rabbit’s flame thrower. Tony seemed intrigued by the schematics and was reading through them thoroughly. 

“These weapons seem to be pretty fancy for the 1940s, no wonder dad was pissed that they wouldn’t share their secrets.” Tony mumbled. He turned to look at Steve. “So, you mentioned that these robots were members of the Howling Commandos? How did that happen?”

“I met them one day in camp. I thought they were just normal soldiers at a distance until I noticed that there skin was made of metal.” Steve replied. “I was told that I could have anyone I wanted on my team and so I asked them. It was a pain at first because the generals kept telling me that they were not people or soldiers, but of course I insisted. They stayed with us for most of our missions, only leaving when they were forced to go somewhere else on the frontlines. They were probably the nicest, friendliest, most accepting people I have ever met.”

“So they were A.I.s then? Like Jarvis?” Tony asked, his eyebrows going up in question.

Steve thought about it for a moment. “Yes and no. I would say that they are just as advanced as Jarvis and that they also have distinct personalities, but you built Jarvis to have all the information in the world around him and he can connect to other electronics. I think that when the Walter robots were made they were more of a clean slate. They mentioned they had an initial purpose of playing music and singing, but rather than being made with these abilities, they had to learn how to do it themselves.”

Tony nodded to himself and his eyes showed that he was deep in thought. “That’s interesting. I wonder why a scientist would make a robot that advanced and not give it at least a jumpstart in knowledge… It’s as if he wanted them to grow up... like a child would.”

“Well they are brothers and they did refer to Walter as their father, not creator. I also don’t know if they had any other family members.” Steve added.

“I guess I can see where this Walter was coming from.” Tony didn’t seem to be paying attention anymore, getting lost in his own thoughts. _Maybe Tony felt the same way about his creations..._

Steve resumed his reading and there was one particular document that caught his eye. It appeared to be a log written by a U.S. army general dated back to the year 1973 and it was also the most recently dated out of all the documents. It read, “My men and I found one of the enemy bases at around 20:00 yesterday evening. When we first entered it appeared to be a lab of some sorts, however, it turned out to be a prison where they kept hostages. We found a total of three prisoners there that seem to have been experimented on. It turns out that the prisoners were the U.S. army’s secret weapons that had gone missing almost eight years ago. We think that they were trying to figure out how to reverse-engineer them in some way. We couldn’t find anything as it seems that they removed all the information before they left everything else behind. I know that people have been referring to them as weapons, but they are just soldiers, soldiers that had been tortured as prisoners. How could you call them weapons when one was begging and crying that we help its ‘brothers’? What we saw… I don’t wish that on anyone, not even my enemies. I was told that they were being shipped back to the company that rented them to us sometime tomorrow. Hopefully… they will find some peace. -General Finch.”

Dread filled Steve in that moment. They had been prisoners of war for over eight years. Steve must have shown something in his expression because Tony came over to read it as well. His face scrunched up in sympathy as if it reminded him of something. “Jesus… I’m sorry Steve.” 

Tony walked over and reached out towards Steve. He had hesitated for a moment as if wondering if it would be welcome or not, but he caved and put his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “I know that there is probably more out there to find. I can have Jarvis search to see if he can find who had been the one to remove the missing pieces of the files and then maybe we can persuade the person into sharing the info. It will take a little time though, depending on how good they are at hiding their tracks.”

He didn’t feel any better about the information they found, but Steve had to hope that they are still alive somewhere, this at least proved that they had last been seen a little less than forty years ago. He let out a long sigh. “You really don’t have to do this Tony. If there is something more important to be done... I don’t want this to interfere with your work.”

Tony just gave him a look and rolled his eyes, taking his hand off his shoulder and closing out the documents with the wave. “What do you take me for?” Tony said with his normal amounts of sarcasm and a small laugh. “There is a chance that three of your friends from the 40s might be out there and you think that I wouldn’t help. If I were in your situation I would be fighting tooth and nail for it. Besides, Jarvis can do anything. Isn’t that right J?”

“Of course, sir.” Jarvis replied with a sarcastic tone of his own. 

They chuckled at Jarvis’ sass and Tony began to lead Steve out of the lab. Before they made it to the elevator Tony looked up at the closest, hidden camera. “Please let the both of us know the second you find anything.”

If Jarvis could smirk he would probably doing so in that moment. “It would be my pleasure sir.”

...

The next few weeks spent waiting for any news felt strangely domestic for Steve. Ever since Tony and Steve’s shared apology, it was almost as if a veil had been lifted off of the tower. Steve never realized how their constant bickering and slight animosity seemed to almost have created a rift of tension between the other Avengers. Everyone became more comfortable and came out of their shells little by little. They were becoming a team.

They all also started to spend more time in the common room. Even Stark and Bruce would break away from their lab work every once in a while and would challenge each other or anyone else in the shared room to a chess or monopoly match (And yes, Tony would always beat them at monopoly and he would never admit that Natasha almost beat him once). Clint would also challenge them to video game tournaments and Natasha suggested that they have a group movie night every Sunday. Steve even made it a goal to have them to eat dinners as a team. Steve would also occasionally go down into Tony’s lab where he would sit off to the side to practice drawing in companionable silence. 

Things were not always perfect at the Avenger’s Tower. Everyone living there had egos that would lead to a little hotheadedness between them every once in a while… well except maybe Bruce. Most of their arguments didn’t last long and they were usually over mundane things like Clint climbing through the air vents and pulling pranks or Tony hogging the coffee pot in the morning. All and all, things started to look up a little, even though Jarvis has yet to find the info on who deleted the files.

Steve would sometimes have an occasional conversation with Jarvis from time to time, much to Tony’s amusement and approval. Steve found that Jarvis had many of the same speaking mannerisms as Tony, despite the British accent. Jarvis also differed from Tony in a way that he was a lot more proper and mature sounding than Tony. The topics they would discuss and debate revolved around anything from which artist were better, to sports teams, to history and modern politics.

Ever since Steve woke up in the future, he had been terrified at the idea of not being able to fit in with the different times and lifestyle. Everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. had been kind, but only professional and he found that it was hard to talk to anyone new when he knew almost nothing about modern culture. But, much to his surprise, this bunch of misfit superheroes and spies started to feel like home to him.

...

It was late one summer night that some news would finally come to light.

The team was sitting together for another movie night and it had been Tony’s turn to pick. “Since you all seem to be uncultured in the art of watching of good movies, I guess it is up to me to bestow upon you this masterpiece.” Tony had stated in mock seriousness with one hand over his chest and the other holding out a copy of the extended edition of ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’.

“You just had to pick the longest movie series in the history of movies. It has like, twenty fricken endings.” Clint grumbled out, pretending that he didn’t actually like it. Natasha and Steve smiled and Bruce chuckled from his seat at their antics.

“Is this just because I refer to you as Legolas all the time?” Tony asked with a cheeky grin.

“Yes… yes it is.” Everyone in the room started laughing as the lights in the room dimmed and the movie started. Tony plopped down to the right Steve on the couch, practically hogging the whole thing. Bruce had once again claimed the armchair while Natasha and Clint sprawled out on the beanbags set in the center of the room.

Steve was instantly intrigued as the narration and opening music began. This was on his list of things to catch up on in this century and, despite Tony and Clint’s teasing, he was excited to finally understand the Legolas reference.

They had just gotten to the part when Frodo begins his journey with Sam out of the Shire when the lights turn on and the movie pauses. Everyone jerked in their seats at the bright lights and sudden lack of sound.

“Hey! What gives?” Clint exclaimed, rubbing his eyes to try to get them to adjust. Everyone else looked over to Tony with concern, all of them ready to pounce into gear if need be.

Tony sat up, now much more serious and alert. “Jarvis, is everything alright?”

There was a moment of silence before Jarvis answered. “Sir, I have been contacted by someone who states that they would like to speak to Mr. Rogers. Their message originates from an unnamed estate in San Diego, California.”


	2. Chapter 1: We're Gonna Start The Show

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers receive a mysterious phone call and the story begins.
> 
> The title for this chapter comes from the song Steam Man Band. Which is the first song on the first SPG album, Album One.
> 
> You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r71BtRcDy-Y

_There was a moment of silence before Jarvis answered. “Sir, I have been contacted by someone who states that they would like to speak to Mr. Rogers. Their message originates from an unnamed estate in San Diego, California.”_

…

Tony looked over to the other Avengers in the room, they all looked equally concerned and alert. This person could be anyone, from an enemy hacker to an obsessed fan. Tony’s eyes finally land on Steve. “Know anyone in San Diego?”

Steve thought about it for a moment before a memory clicked in his brain. He didn’t want to get his hopes up and he knew that they couldn’t just jump into this headfirst. “I don’t know about anyone in San Diego, but the bots mentioned living in California.”

Tony got a thoughtful look on his face while everyone else just seemed confused. 

“Bots?” Natasha inquired, looking nothing less than pissed that there was information about someone in the room that she didn’t know.

Tony didn’t respond to the question, probably allowing Steve decide what information he wanted to spill. Steve was grateful that Tony would give him the chance to keep this as secretive as he wanted, but he knew that it would be best not to hide this from the team. Besides, he had learned that he could trust everyone in the room to keep the information hidden, even from S.H.I.E.L.D.

Steve then launched into an explanation and filled in the team with how he believed that three of his friends from the war had seemingly fallen out of existence and how he had been searching for any and all information about them. He also told them how Tony had been helping him try to find them and everything that they had managed to find from the S.H.I.E.L.D files.

Much like Tony, they were all surprised. Unable to hold back his curiosity, Bruce spoke up, “I didn’t think robots like that could be made back then, the radio had only just been invented around that time after all. Besides, I thought Tony was the only one to have even made a successful A.I. program like that. Right?”

“That’s what I thought too, until I saw the weapons blueprints.” Tony said. “Hey J, can you display that file on the TV for us?” 

Without a word, the images from S.H.I.E.L.D. popped up on the screen, showing all the weapons that the robots had on their person when they went into World War II. Bruce instantly stood up and walked over to the television to get a closer look. Steve looked over to Clint and Natasha and noticed that both their eyes opened in recognition.

“I remember those blueprints. Fury told me once that there had been a data breach shortly after Vietnam that had the higher-ups at the time going crazy. There was only certain files taken though that were related to one particular engineer. S.H.I.EL.D. obviously tried to keep tabs on them, but everytime someone would upload any information to the system it was deleted again,” Natasha explained. “Fury said that he was even planning on contacting them about the weapons in the blueprints to create a deal for either S.H.IE.L.D. or the Avengers Initiative, but the trail to find them went dead about two years ago. There isn’t a single trace of them anywhere since.”

“Fury knew about them and didn’t say anything?” Steve asked, a hint of anger in his voice. He was livid that he had been awake for two years now and no one had thought to mention his friends’ disappearance to him. Before he could get too upset though, Natasha spoke up again, probably sensing that she would have to diffuse the situation.

“I don’t think he knew about you knowing them. A lot of info about it had been erased before he even became the S.H.I.E.L.D. director.”

“Besides, I think we all know what Fury would have done if he had known,” Clint cut in with an amused expression. “He probably would have been hounding you for details and you wouldn’t have been able to get him to leave you alone.” 

Tony shifted his seat beside Steve as he watched a frown growing on Bruce’s face as he read over the schematics. “So, what do you think Bruce?” He inquired.

“Well, I may not be an engineer, but these are definitely more similar to some of today’s weapons than one's back in the 40s.” Bruce mumbled his gaze shifting to Steve. There was a sympathetic look in his eyes. “I can definitely see why S.H.I.E.L.D. was involved. Considering how highly you spoke of this robots Steve, I really hope that for their sakes that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t mess with them too much.”

Now, Steve was not as ignorant as he had been when he woke up from the ice. Just because S.H.I.E.L.D. fought for the good of all, it didn’t necessarily make them saints. Steve had started to question them after finding the weapons he found on the helicarrier that they were using to harness the Tesseract energy. After he had begun spending more time with his fellow teammates, he learned how twisted the organization can be when they felt the need to. They were a covert government organization afterall. The way they had treated Bruce in the past was inexcusable to him and he was touched that Bruce showed concern for his friends whom he hadn’t even met yet.

Jarvis’ voice echoed around them again. “I do not mean to interrupt, but they are still insistent on speaking to Mr. Rogers.”

“Do you have an information on who we might be dealing with J?” Tony asked.

“Well Sir, I do not believe them to be hostile as of yet. They haven't tried to force their way into the tower’s systems and have been very polite in their request. They also say that they would understand if you are weary and asked me to tell Mr. Rogers, ‘We must all look towards what we miss most, and keep that drive in our heart.’ I do not know what this means or if it is some kind of code, but I assume it is something that Mr. Rogers would know to help identify-”

“It’s them!” Steve exclaimed happily, leaping out of his seat and unintentionally cutting Jarvis off. The other occupants in the room were slightly shocked at the sudden burst of emotion from Steve, who they were used to seeing as a stoic and quiet-spoken person outside of the field. The team realized with a tinge of sadness that this was the first time they had ever seen him genuinely happy and excited about something.

“How do you know Steve? Is it some kind of code message or what?” Tony interjected. His eyes were still questioning and weary, but a small smile found its way onto his face from Steve’s contagious excitement.

“It is a part of one of the songs they would sing while we were out in the field,” Steve explained as he paced slightly. “They made them all up themselves.”

“They sing too? I thought that they were just made for fighting?” Clint interjected.

“Well, they told me that they had originally been created to sing and impress their father’s sweetheart. Something happened to her and when Walter’s company lost money due to previous circumstances, they had to to fight in the war to provide extra funding.” Steve continued.

They all contemplated this for a moment, before Natasha brought it back to the issue at hand. “So this was obviously given as a way for Steve to verify them, however this could still be some kind of trick to get Steve to react and they simply got the information somewhere else. Should we answer or not?”

“Well, if it does turn out to be some kind of some kind of hostile hacker, I know that Jarvis should easily be able to keep any harmful attempts at bay.” Tony said, slightly smug. “Plus, we _are_ the Avengers. If they want to start something we can take them out. So, what do you think Steve?”

Steve curved his enthusiasm a little bit, but still kept the smile on his face. “Alright Jarvis, lets see who we are dealing with.”

“Of course Mr. Rogers.”  
…

Steve had been ecstatic when his request for the team was approved. After a discussion with General Phillips and Agent Carter, Howard Stark had given him a new, more practical, Captain America themed suit and shield. He had asked if the name and title was really necessary, but he became a symbol when he had marched into that Hydra prison, so he was told that he would have to deal with it. Luckily, the new suit was a lot less flashy than the one he had performed on stage in, even though it still screamed with American spirit.

When he had rescued Bucky and the other soldiers of Troop 107, he had found a map left behind by the Hydra scientist that marked the locations of several of their bases. With his new photographic memory, courtesy of the serum, he was able to point them all out on their maps. Considering how well he had invaded the last Hydra base, Phillips decided that the best course of action was to send his team into each one, starting at the one closest to American lines and then moving inland. From there, the rest of the troops would be able to take the area surrounding them without as much trouble. Though it would be difficult, Steve had complete trust that his team would succeed.

He would be lying if he had said he wasn’t a little concerned for the three automatons that he added to the team. It took a lot of arguing with Phillips to get it approved, but with how dangerous their missions would be, the general finally conceded.

Steve had told the rest of his team about the metal men ahead of time and warned them that they were just as human as they were and that if anyone didn’t like it then they didn’t have to stay on the team. But, Steve’s faith in these men were well founded. When the robots were finally introduced to everyone, things had been slightly uneasy and tense at first, but just like with Steve’s first meeting, everyone warmed up to them pretty quickly. The bots were naturally funny and kind-hearted people and they got along with the others like fish to water. The team also came to an agreement that The Jon was an ‘innocent cinnamon roll’ as today’s young demographic would say and everyone became very protective of him.

Steve would often joke with The Spine and say that maybe the world would be a safer place if Bucky and Rabbit had never met. They had hit it off almost immediately and had become fast friends. Those two would constantly be telling dirty jokes and playing pranks on some of the other men in camp. However, despite their more sarcastic attitude, they were often a forces to be reckoned with in the field.

It was shortly after their team's first mission that they had first heard the robots sing. They had just taken the first Hydra base and were making their way back towards the main camp to rest. It hadn’t been as difficult as the prison base that Steve broke into, especially with the help from the men around him. It was a pretty successful takeover and no one had been seriously injured. Despite the victory, the mood was still solemn. It was war afterall, and despite the fact that they were fighting for a great cause it still took a toll on all of them.

They were about an hour out from the camp when it started to pour. Everyone was exhausted and the rain water was causing the dirt under their feet to turn into thick layers of mud, causing them to slip. No one was complaining out loud, but he could see what they were thinking from the looks on their faces. The bots also seemed to be moving slower than normal too, small sounds of metal squeaking could be faintly heard over the downpour. Steve looked around for cover and saw a the remnants of an old, brick shack. It was still somewhat exposed to the elements and wind, but at least they would be dry. He quickly ordered everyone to head over to it.

They eventually set up a campfire for them to wait out the small storm. Everyone had their clothes completely soaked through, causing them to shiver and huddle closer together for warmth. The bots tried producing more steam and heat as they huddled near everyone else as well, trying to keep their companions warm. There were a few moments of silence before Rabbit inevitably broke the silence.

“W-w-well this stinks.”

“You could say that again.” Dum-Dum muttered, teeth slightly chattering. “I think I would do anything for this rain to stop.”

“Well it could be worse.” Jones said, trying to lighten the mood. Suddenly, a shot of lighting broke through the clouds and thunder exploded around them, sounding off close enough that the ground shook.

Bucky started laughing. “You just had to say it.” Everyone else chuckled lightly before falling into companionable silence, watching as lighting continued to streak through the air around them.

It was a few minutes later when another one of the bots broke the quiet moment between them. The Jon, who had been uncharacteristically silent through the entire trip back to camp began to hum out a simple melody. It started off extremely quiet, almost drowned out completely by the storm around them, but it picked up in volume as time went on, as if he were trying to gain more confidence. 

Rabbit shifted slightly in his spot beside Steve and Bucky, a small smile forming on his face as he began to hum along as well, harmonizing with The Jon. The Jon perked up at the fact that his brother was joining him and then he quickly looked over to The Spine, giving him the biggest puppy-dog eyes that Steve had ever seen, or even thought possible from someone with metal plates for a face. 

The Spine seemed to be trying his best to ignore the begging stares that both of his brothers were now giving him, but he finally let out a sigh of resignation. However, rather than hum along like Steve had been expecting, The Spine started to sing.

“A man takes off from an airfield and he's a'soaring very far from home. 'cause he flies a B-17 straight through the sky. He's homesick and he knows it'll be a long time till he's done, and he's got a beautiful girl waiting at home.”

The minute that The Spine started to sing all of the men’s attention was instantly drawn to him. The robots had mentioned to Steve that their original purpose was to sing and perform, now he could truly understand. The Spine’s voice was perfectly tuned and it seemed to cut through the cold, biting air around them. The other bots harmonizing along added to the effect.

The Spine continued to sing while the other two bots harmonized. The energy of the uplifting song caused them all to start singing and clapping along to the chorus. The robots themselves seemed to become more confident as they went through the song and The Spine, who rarely seemed to smile was practically grinning from ear to ear by the end of it.

“If we all look towards what we miss most, and keep that drive in our heart! Well, that'll that'll that'll that'll that'll that'll that'll that'll that'll be the way home. Yes, that'll that'll that'll that'll that'll that'll that'll, that'll be the way home.”

By the end the men were cheering for an encore and the bots themselves looked the happiest Steve had seen them so far. Rabbit did small half-bows from is seat, “Thank you, th-thank you, w-w-we’ll be here all week.”

The men spent the rest of the storm singing various songs that they knew, ranging from childhood songs to some of the more current songs. The robots would also occasionally sing another of the songs that they had written themselves. Some of them were so ridiculous that it made them howl with laughter while other were simply tales of heroes such as sea captains and cowboys. 

Steve would look back on this night as being one of the most memorable moments of his life. Despite all of the terrors and evils of the world around them, they had still managed to find a sliver of light in the darkness. Steve had vowed to himself to never give up the hope that they would one day succeed and make it back home again.

…

The Avengers stood and gathered around the television screen as the weapon diagrams were removed and the image of a man sitting in an office came into view, but the man that appeared was a lot younger than what they had been expecting. He seemed to be in his late teens or early twenties. He had fluffy, dirty blond hair, light blue eyes, and a pair of goggles resting on the top of his head. He was also currently wearing a lab coat over a plaid sweater-vest with his gloved fingers entwined together and resting on the desk. He had a very calm and confident composure about him which differed a lot from the other strangers that they have encountered over the past few months. Many people when faced with the Avengers usually became stuttering, fangirling messes or just spiteful and degrading. Despite what many may think, not everyone saw what the Avengers did in New York as heroism.

The office the young man was sitting in reminded Steve a lot of Tony’s lab. Papers covered in calculations were scattered and pinned everywhere and random chunks of metal and half-finished projects were laid across the desk and the shelving units behind him. There was also the sound of various machines running in the background and the occasional hiss of steam.

After the initial moment of silence, it was the mystery man who spoke up first. The way he talked conveyed every ounce of professionalism. “Hello Avengers. My name is Peter A. Walter VI and I am the current head of Walter Robotics. I have contacted you because I have noticed your interest in our company and I thought that it would be prudent to contact you directly.”

“That would be because of me, sir.” Steve explained, taking a step closer to the television. The other Avengers recognized his tone as his ‘Captain America Voice’ that he used when talking to reporters or politicians. It was very different from his enthusiasm before, but this may have been Steve’s only chance to find out what happened to his friends and he didn’t want to offend the one man who could give him answers. He wanted to stay as honest and trustworthy as possible. “I have been looking for the men I had served with during the war and was troubled to find that I could not find any information on The Jon, The Spine, or Rabbit’s wellbeing. My friend Mr. Stark offered his aid in my search to find them.” 

Mr. Walter seemed to sit up straighter in his seat at the mention of the robots names, his eyebrows raising slightly. “So, you really are the same Steve Rogers from the 40s? How is that possible?”

Steve looked over to his teammates. They were all still tense, as if waiting for the pin to drop, but Steve knew that they would trust his judgment on what he would say. Steve had a feeling that Mr. Walter probably already knew some things, considering the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D.s files on Walter Robotics had been altered for years, meaning that they had the ability to access secure information. They also had somehow managed to contact Jarvis, which Steve knew was practically impossible for the average technician to do considering how protective Tony could be towards Jarvis and the amount of firewalls and virus detection systems he had installed. In this situation, honesty would still be the best policy incase that Mr. Walter was looking for deceit, but he would still be vague.

“I had been frozen after flying an aircraft into the Atlantic. My body was preserved in the ice until I had been found and defrosted about a year ago.”

Mr. Walter nodded. “And how do I truly know that you are who you say you are? The automatons’ names and their history in the war is not as secret as we would like. So, how do I know this isn’t just an attempt from S.H.I.E.L.D. or some other government agency to swoop down and mess with my family.” Mr. Walter’s voice was calm, but there was a protective glint to his eyes.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. knows nothing of this, and most of the other members my team had not been informed of our search until today. The bots had been some of the best people I had ever met in my life and I simply wanted to know what happened to the men that I fought alongside with.” 

Mr. Walter seemed to contemplate Steve’s statement before letting out a small sigh. “I have heard that the original Captain had a photographic memory, so I will ask one question that only the real Captain should know. If you answer incorrectly, we will see you as a threat and you will be cut from all communications here. If you try to to contact us in any way afterwards we will be forced to take action.”  
At the veiled threat Steve could feel Clint and Natasha tense and move slightly closer to the gathered team. Tony crossed his arms over the arc reactor in his chest, a small frown plastered to his usually cheerful face. Bruce shuffled on his feet slightly, biting at one of his nails. Steve, still standing at attention gave a nod. “Okay then. What is your question?”

“Two members of the howling commandos pulled a prank on one of the others that involved shaving cream. Who were they and what was the outcome?”

Tony, who was still standing somewhere behind Steve let out a huff, amused at the topic of the question considering how serious the situation was. Steve himself actually laughed out loud at the memory that came to the forefront of his mind.

“That was definitely done by Rabbit and Bucky after we got back to camp from our fourth mission. They filled up Dum Dum’s helmet with the stuff. The joke was on them though when Dum Dum got them back by filling their sleeping bags with it the week after. Rabbit and Bucky were always doing dumb things like that to lighten the mood.” Steve’s heart gave a slight twinge at the mention of Bucky, but he still had a smile on his face from the memory.

There was a moment of silence and Walter’s face had taken on a deadly serious glare, causing Steve to suddenly freeze up. Had he said something wrong? He thought for sure that he was right. Just when he was about to speak up all of the anger drained from Walter’s face in an instant and he started laughing so hard that his shoulders shook. The Avenger’s jumped at the sudden noise but relaxed after the sudden change in the man before them. Walter dramatically wiped an imaginary tear from his eye and leaned back in his desk chair, a grin spread across his face.

“Your reactions were great.” Walter laughed happily. “Sorry about the act Avengers. You can’t be too careful nowadays and we had to be sure that you were actually who you claimed to be. We had an incident a few years back and we have been careful to not repeat it.”  
The joy on his face became more sincere. “I’m glad you are the same Captain America that the bots knew. They miss you dearly and when we saw you all on the news during the alien invasion they told us that it had to have been you. I just wanted to confirm before their hopes got too high.”

Steve felt a sigh of relief go through him. He finally got the confirmation that they were alive, not only that, but they remembered him. Steve was about to respond when Natasha pushed her way to the front of the group, a serious look on her face now. “We understand the necessity for caution Mr. Walter.” She stated calmly, her trademark glare in her eyes. “But we would now like to see proof that you are actually who you say are as well. As you have stated, I want to protect who I care about too.”

The grin on his face became a little more subdued, but he nodded. “Of course.” He looked off camera to something behind it when he said. “Hey, Miss Camille, could you please go find one of the bots please.” The Avengers heard an affirmative from a soft, woman’s voice. “Of course, sir.” And then the distant clacking of heels walking away.

“Who was that?” Clint inquired curtly. Peter waved off a hand as if it was nothing to worry about and he ducked his head to the side of the desk, opening various drawers and rustling through papers. “That was one of the Walter Workers that we have here on staff.” Walter replied as he began setting some photographs in a pile on the desk. “We used to have a lot more working here, but since we are no longer a business we only have Miss Chelsea and Miss Camille. Most of the people living here at the manor have lived here for a few generations now, they are no exception. If you were wondering, the Walter Workers’ main job was to assist in maintenance of the automatons and the company.”

Tony took another step forward so that we was right next to Steve now. He still looked on edge considering he had yet to uncross his arms. “If it is not rude of me to ask, but why the hell did you stop the company’s work? I understand the want to stop creating weapons, but why not go into other fields?”

Walter’s smile turned slightly pained at that. “You of all people should understand Dr. Stark. Once the company declared that we would no longer be loaning our automatons out to fight, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the U.S. government were insistent.” Tony seemed shocked at the fact that someone referred to his doctorates and he gave a nod in understanding. Tony had spoken to Steve about how he was treated after shutting down his weapon production, he often wondered how Tony hadn’t cracked under the pressure of it all. This also happened to be another nail in the coffin for Steve’s trust in S.H.I.E.L.D.

“I can’t say too much at the moment, but my great, great grandfather and a coworker of his had discovered unique elements that we have been researching and utilizing in our tech for years. If any of this were to get into another’s hands, even in a non-weaponized form, we are worried that they would find a way to reverse engineer it. The improper use of this element has lead to war once before, we as a family have sworn to never let that happen again.”  
Intrigue instantly settled over the Avengers. This was new information to everyone even Steve. The idea of a new element caused a gleam to appear in Tony’s eyes and Steve could also see a similar form of excitement from Bruce, who was also excited by the prospect of another scientific discovery.

Suddenly, a loud crash could be heard from Walter’s side of the call, followed by the sounds of indistinct shouting and laughter. The Avengers twitched at yet another sudden noise, still slightly tense after the initial introduction. Walter however let out a sigh and drug his hands across his face. His face took on every characteristic of an exasperated parent. 

Steve had a feeling he knew what might have happened and chuckled. “The bots?”  
Walter simply nodded. “Everyday. You would think that one hundred years would mature a person, but you’d be wrong.”

There was a knocking sound and Walter looked up, a smile lit up his face again. “Hey, thanks for coming. You remember how I was going to call Mr. Rogers? The friend that your brothers talk about.”

“Of course!” a young woman’s voice exclaimed.

“I have him and the Avengers on the phone if you would like to meet them.”

“Don’t be a dummins Six, I could never say no to that.”

It was a that a young woman came into view of the camera standing primly next to Walter. Only, it wasn’t a human girl, but an automaton with metallic pink skin and a beautiful black and red dress. Steve could see immediately that she was created very similarly to the bots he knew, except slightly more advanced. She had very distinct facial features and she could easily be mistaken for human if it wasn’t for the glowing eyes and the metallic shine to her face. She also had short black hair that stopped at her shoulders and a black cap with a fresh white daisy tucked into the ribbon. Her eyes were shining a bright blue, reminding him instantly of The Jon.

“Avengers, this is Upgrade. Upgrade, these are the Avengers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of the kudos and comments on the prologue, it really helps motivate me to write more. 
> 
> For anyone who is wondering why Peter Walter VI does not have his keyhole mask in this, it is because it has not happened yet. It may or may not become a major plot point later in the story.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments, reviews, and suggestions! I am still a beginner at writing fictional stories so I am open to hearing advice or other ideas that people might want to see in this story.


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